Global health experts launch crusade against resurging infant mortality

At a two day conference, convened by the World Health Organization under the Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), in South Africa, it was revealed that at least 289,000 women die in child birth while about 6.6 million children die before the age of five every year.This revelation is coming less than 550 […]

At a two day conference, convened by the World Health Organization under the Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), in South Africa, it was revealed that at least 289,000 women die in child birth while about 6.6 million children die before the age of five every year.
This revelation is coming less than 550 days to the December 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of development objectives initiated 14 years ago in order to improve the general living conditions of people around the world.
The health experts met in Johannesburg, the capital city of South Africa three weeks ago, to strategize on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, which are the fourth and fifth goals of the MDGs.
At the gathering, participants reviewed progress made on achieving the MDGs in the last 14 years with emphasis on women’s and children’s health; and agreed that despite the progress made, a lot still needs to be done to achieve success.
Declaring the two-day forum open, Mrs Graca Machel, widow of the late South African President Nelson Mandela and Chairperson of the PMNCH, said despite all efforts in the last 14 years, there is still much more to be done to improve maternal health.
She added that the rights of women and girls continue to be grossly violated making the burden of poverty on women persistent.
“The world has made remarkable progress to improve maternal health, yet still women and children have not been covered adequately,” she said.
“Therefore we must ensure that all women, adolescent girls, children and newborns, no matter where they live, are able to fulfill their rights to health and education; to realize their full potentials.
“Every woman should have access to resources and gain space to assert her aspirations. Nobody should die in child birth and all girls should go to school with their brothers and master the tools for a productive life,” she observed.
Similarly, Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, who is the Co-chair of the MDGs Advocates Group, a group of eminent personalities working to focus attention on the need to deliver on the vision for the MDGs, said a lot of progress has been made globally and called for more efforts.
“With fewer than 550 days until the MDGs deadline, time is of essence to scale up our efforts on behalf of women, children and adolescents,” she said
In the same vein, South Africa’s Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, whose country hosted the event expressed hope that the meeting would find ways to reduce maternal and child deaths.
“We are privileged as a country to host this important meeting about urgent need to improve women’s and children’s health. This global gathering gives us the opportunity to learn from each other’s successes and challenges and identify new approaches,” he said.
Speaking at the plenary session, Director General of World Health Organisations (WHO), Margaret Chan, emphasized that maternal newborn and child health has to be central in Post-2015 Development Plannning.
Also speaking, UN Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, Amina Mohammed, said a lot need to be done to meet the December 2015 MDGs target.
The participants also lamented that progress has been uneven in some countries as well as for some marginalized groups, and therefore, recognized the need to include these marginalized groups as partners in the design of policies and strategies that affect their lives and their health.
They further called for the new sustainable development agenda to be rights-based, equity focused and to place healthy women, children and adolescents at its core.
At the end of the conference, a 40-point communiqué was drafted to address the challenges posed by the rising cases of maternal and child mortality.
The document, which drew its ideas from diverse groups, including civil society, governments and the private sector proposed significant financing, effective policies and service delivery that could save the lives of newborns and women.
The commitments are in response to the Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP), a road-map and joint action platform for the reduction of preventable newborn mortality, which was launched at the forum’s meeting.
The communiqué, which was endorsed by the MDGs Advocates, called for comprehensive response to be enshrined in specific new global development goals.
“We will focus on working across sectors, including education, infrastructure, and economic development to ensure a comprehensive broad-based approach to improving women’s and children’s health,” the communiqué stated.
The participants also agreed to review progress regularly and work together to achieve the shared goals.
“In the remaining days of the MDGs and beyond 2015, we commit ourselves to accelerate progress for women and children’s health with actions.”
The communiqué was built around areas that included investment in poor and marginalized populations and in groups requiring special attention, such as newborns and adolescents, prioritizing women’s, and adolescents’ health and rights in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and Targets.
It also pledged to promote universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, education, information and products among others.
The communiqué added that preventing unintended pregnancies, child marriages and violence against women will significantly reduce maternal and newborn mortality and improve women’s and children’s health worldwide.
In her closing remarks, Executive Director of PMNCH, Dr Carole Presern said it was hoped that henceforth, women and children would not be dying prematurely from preventable cases.
“Today, we leave with renewed energy to make sure that women, newborns, children and adolescents do not die from easily preventable causes. Sexual and reproductive health and rights should be respected so that everyone, everywhere should be able to look forward to a healthy, happy and productive life,” she said.